Day 42 - Monday - July 7 - Wrangell to Frederick Sound

I could not launch early today for two reasons. I had to pick up my food box from the post office, which meant waiting for it to open. The other reason was that early on today’s route I would have to traverse the shallow sand flats of the Stikine River Delta. Since many areas along this route are only a few inches deep, it is only possible to transit them on a rising or high tide. Even a kayak can run aground in these shallows and become stuck. This meant planning my departure so as not to be stuck on a sand flat during a falling tide. This might not sound like a big deal until you realize you could be stuck for six or more hours surrounded by soggy sand with no way to move until the next high tide arrives. Low tide today was -1.3 feet at 10:30am and high tide was 15.6 feet at 5:15pm. This was a 17-foot difference in less than seven hours.

Kadin Island is straight ahead as I launch from Wrangell.

After getting all my gear down to the waters edge, I packed up the boat and was launching at 10:30am and heading across the mouth of the Stikine River toward Kadin Island. I reached the southern tip of Kadin at 12:10pm and headed northwest toward the northern tip of Rynda Island. The chart showed shallow water in this area and I thought since it was two hours into a rising tide I could make it across. The Stikine River makes the water a muddy brown and you cannot see the bottom like most other places along the route. Because of this, you cannot tell how deep the water is until your paddle touches bottom.

The valley of the Stikine River cuts through the coast range.

About a half mile from Kadin Island, I ran aground but managed to back out and find a deeper passage. I ended up heading south and going all the way to Greys Island where the chart showed greater water depths. I was then able to follow the Coast of Rynda Island and make my way through Dry Strait with no more problems as the water continued to rise.

Paddling through Dry Strait.

Halfway through Dry Strait I could see a large flock of what looked like birds swirling and undulating in the air over an exposed sand flat in the distance. As I approached, it became apparent that this was not a far off flock of birds, but a dense swarm of insects, possibly gnats, that were close by. I changed course to avoid them but a few found their way to me and alighted on the deck of my kayak covering it with hundreds of their creepy little bodies. Luckily, they were not in a biting mood and I made it through the area with no problem. This did prompt me however to move my mosquito head net from inside the kayak to a place in my deck bag for the rest of the trip.

Icebergs floating in Frederick Sound after drifting out of LeConte Bay.

As I made my way along the shoreline of Mitkof Island I was entering the lower stretches of Frederick Sound with LeConte Bay directly across in the distance. Icebergs that had calved off the LeConte Glacier were making their way out into Frederick Sound giving me my first views of floating ice on the trip.

Looking back on Dry Strait and Coney Island from my campsite on Frederick Sound.

Although the Mitkof Island shoreline is covered with sand beaches, they are all shallow and most would not be protected from high tides. As I searched the shoreline looking for a decent place to make camp, I kept seeing Black Bears, three in all, over a distance of about five miles. This was not looking good.

My campsite on the wooden float in Frederick Sound.

At 6:30pm, after paddling 26 miles, I came across a large wooden float or dock that had washed up on the beach and was sitting almost level. This turned out to be an incredible find and provided a perfect spot to camp. I was able to sit back and watch as icebergs and bergy-bits floated by in Frederick Sound all evening. As I was setting up camp, I spotted a baby Black Bear feeding in the grass about 100 feet away. Luckily mom-ma bear was nowhere around. Occasionally throughout the evening, it would call out with a sound almost like a cow calf, apparently trying to make contact with its lost mother.

Check out some of my other sea kayaking adventures

A two week long, 2014 Sea Kayaking Adventure in Alaska's Prince William Sound.CLICK HERE To see more information on Sea Kayaking the Inside Passage, along with hundreds of photos and videos, check out the website for my 2012 Inside Passage Sea Kayaking adventure at the following link.CLICK HERE

About Me

Exploring the outdoors on foot and in small
boats has been a big part of my life since my first camping trip when I was ten
years old. I prefer “self-propelled” modes
of travel such as backpacking, canoeing, and kayaking and have used these
methods to explore many of the most remote and beautiful areas in North America
from Key West, Florida to Denali National Park in Alaska.

The
Pacific Northwest and the coasts of British Columbia and Southeast Alaska have
become my favorite area to explore. I have traveled solo by sea kayak for thousands
of miles through the waterways that together make up the 1,300 mile (2,080
kilometer) Inside Passage. I completed the route from Washington to Alaska
twice, once in 2008 and again in 2012.

After completing my first Inside Passage kayaking trip in 2008 I
published my first book on the subject, “Point to Point: Exploring the Inside
Passage by Kayak”.

After
completing the route for a second time in 2012, I published my most recent book,
“Alone in the Passage: An Explorers Guide to Sea Kayaking the Inside Passage”.

These are the campsites along the Southeast Alaska section of my route.

Double click on any photo for an enlarged view. Double click on the enlarged photo to get more information about it including the Latitude and Longitude of the spot from which it was taken.

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These are the campsites along the British Columbia section of my route.

Double click on any photo for an enlarged view. Double click on the enlarged photo to get more information about it including the Latitude and Longitude of the spot from which it was taken.

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SLIDE SHOWS SET TO MUSIC

Here are a few slide shows that I put together from my Inside Passage kayak trip that you might enjoy watching.
They are arranged chronologically and in order from south to north.
The links below will bring you to YOU-TUBE.
Make sure to turn your speakers on and watch in full screen mode.